What’s your North Star?
We are all being asked to navigate ambiguity. You don’t need to do it alone.
Hi there.
I’m a design strategist, urban futurist, researcher, writer, and certified facilitator with twenty years of experience working in the built environment in an innovation and human-centered design capacity. From Big Tech to the World Expo in Dubai, my work has taken me all over the world and given me exposure to a variety of sectors and cultures; and what they all share was a commitment to strategically designing a better future.
From working at the C-suite of global engineering consultancy Arup to facilitating drivers of change community workshops in Amman, I believe in the power of design as a means of improving the status quo. My goal is to partner with entities engaged in creating quality societal outcomes and positive systemic change. With two decades of experience as a design and foresight strategist, I believe in the importance of taking both an evidence-based and creative approach to designing a future which aligns an organization’s design aspirations with their strategic objectives, and meets the needs of their future users.
Siqi Zhu, Director of Planning, Sidewalk Labs
“Francesca facilitated a zero-to-one concept development process for a large team spanning multiple cities and time zones, resulting in an innovative application in the public realm. We could not have done it without her insights, empathy, and strategic acumen.”
Fiona Cousins, Arup Fellow
“I have worked with Francesca on many workshops and events with the goal of aligning disparate thinking and creating actionable insight that can move us towards our aims. Her preparation is always thorough and her facilitation humane and insightful.”
Troy D’Ambrosio, Executive Director, Lassonde Studios, University of Utah
“You brought insight and knowledge to a very challenging project that helped us develop a new type of campus building that will combine living/making/hacking and business start ups.”
Stephanie McCarthy, Partner, EDA Architects
“Your approach and insights have guided the collective team through a holistic process that lays the foundation for project success.”
Services
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The big picture is constantly evolving. Research is critical for better understanding the shifting future landscape. Conducting research clarifies how changing user needs, competitive market forces, and emerging trends will impact the business and social landscape. Only by understanding the emerging context can we hope to design the appropriate solution.
Key services:
Research and synthesis of any of the following areas: ethnographic research, emerging trends, competitive market forces
Synthesis and articulation of future challenges and opportunity spaces
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Engaging stakeholders in envisioning the organization’s future will ultimately determine the success or failure of your change management initiatives, and the adoption of future plans. An experienced facilitator can help organizations plan their agenda and deliver a productive strategic planning process.
Key services:
Planning and facilitation of stakeholder workshops
One-on-one primary stakeholder interviews
Synthesis report articulating main findings
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Applying design methods is an essential practice for organizations seeking to transform their cultures into user-centered ones and to influence their innovation strategy. Focused exploration can ensure you are impacting and innovating in the right areas, and designing the right solutions.
Key services:
Stakeholder interviews
Benchmarking research into sector best practices and emerging trends
Identification of organizational challenges and opportunity spaces
Vision and goal setting workshop
Day-in-the-life and user experience design workshop to identify key experiences and design principles
Vision and program definition report
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Increasingly companies need to be prepared to navigate ambiguity and complex futures. Foresight tools can equip organizations with the means to develop a strategic roadmap to address challenges and to achieve desired future outcomes.
Key Services:
Futurist for a Day or Week or Month - bring me into your team meetings and projects so I can inject and share some foresight strategic thinking. Learn how to plan for today and the future
Drivers of change workshop
Future trends presentation
Future focus: The identification and invitation of a key guest speaker(s) to reveal insights into an area
Design and facilitation of foresight workshop to address a specific topic of interest (ie, future of learning, supply chain futures, future of the metaverse)
Synthesis report identifying major challenges, opportunities and vision for the future
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Businesses are being asked to take a more pro-active role in addressing societal and environmental challenges. Stakeholders want to see that the organizations they do business with bring a unique perspective to the conversation and that their products and services align with larger societal goals.
Key Services:
Brainstorming session
Design, plan, convene and host a panel on a thought leadership topic
Interviews with key stakeholders (leadership, functional, end users, key influencers)
Research into challenges and opportunities identified by stakeholders
Development of POV and thought leadership piece
Clients
Planning for the Future: Child Friendly New Orleans
Children stand to be disproportionately impacted by the decisions made today regarding climate change, transportation, safety, economic opportunity, and public health. Our publication, written while at Arup, explores what it would mean to put children’s interests first through the spatial planning of New Orleans.
The Future of Work : Post Covid Workplaces
Covid accelerated the adoption of the hybrid workplace and has created much uncertainty around the future of the workplace. In this research report we explored some of the ways in which the future of work has changed, and then examined some of the implications for the commercial property sector.
The future of cities: New Urban Typologies
In this two-part thought leadership series, we discussed how global leaders should seize the “Covid dividend” to re-envision cities as more inclusive and adaptive environments to more equitably and resiliently meet the needs of the communities which inhabit them.
The Future of Connected Streets: A Smart Cities Exploration
Cities today must contend with the competing needs of moving people and moving goods within the context of dense urban environments and a volatile economy and climate. In collaboration with Qualcomm we explored how we might rethink the design of our connected streets to address these future constraints by focusing on three key urban markets of New York, Shanghai, and Atlanta.
Creating a vision for a new model of learning: Lassonde Studios: Live, Create, Launch
The University of Utah partnered with us to create a vision for a new typology of building which would act as a central hub on campus and foster their active entrepreneurial community of students, alumni, and VCs in the city of Salt Lake.
Transforming Systems: Seeing in New Ways
This was an article for Design Intelligence focused on how the acceleration of change and the emergence of multiple 21st-century crises require new ways of thinking about design. There is a dire need for new approaches given the widespread challenges we are facing as a society: the emergence of polycrisis – multiple crises unfolding at the same time – and the need for systemwide change to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Design Goals (UNSDG) 2030 goals.
Renewing the Dream: The Mobility Revolution and the Future of LA
Drawing on research and multiple perspectives from various contributors, this collection of essays offers a comprehensive look at the way in which mobility decisions have shaped the urban landscape of Los Angeles, and offers both concepts and case studies for how mobility innovations might reshape the city. I contributed a chapter focused on the Destination Crenshaw project dedicated to preserving African-American history and culture by leveraging investments in LA infrastructure.
About
The future is uncertain, volatile, and difficult to predict. Yesterday’s solutions solved yesterday’s problems, but won’t help us to successfully address tomorrow’s. Moving forward we will need to develop new strategic tools and bring together a diversity of perspectives and skills to manage future risks and to realize desired outcomes.
And while uncertainty presents challenges for us, ambiguity also offers us a chance to define a future narrative inspired not by scarcity but rather by an abundance mindset. With all of the resources we have available to us in the 21st century, there exists a tremendous opportunity to create a future that enables us to be more productive in our work, and more fulfilled in our daily lives without compromising the health of people or the planet.
Lets start planning for the future of work, life, and humanity that we believe in.
My Story
I’ve spent the last 20 years as a design strategist and futurist working within the built environment. I’ve had the pleasure of working with clients and partners in the private sector, public sector, and academia who have been equally committed to engaging stakeholders in co-designing their desired futures.
I have been fortunate to facilitate design strategy projects and innovation initiatives, direct foresight research programs, and curate strategic thought leadership content. I’m an independent thinker who enjoys collaborative teamwork, crafting new methodologies, and developing new partnerships to address complex challenges and to develop integrated solutions informed by insights, calibrated towards innovation, and focused on positive impact.
My unconventional path has given me the chance to work with engineers, physicists, architects, UX designers, storytellers, data scientists, planners, digital product designers, and creative renegades radically engaged in designing a better future for humans, our natural environment, and for cities. If you’re facing a wicked problem and looking for a bit of strategic inspiration, you’ve come to the right place.